Novartis Pay Plan Galvanizes Swiss Voters

Sarah Wyss helped roll a bathtub to the front steps of Novartis AG's headquarters last week, just before the pharmaceutical maker's annual general meeting was to begin.

Once the porcelain basin was in place, Ms. Wyss, a member of the cantonal parliament in Basel, helped fill it with 6,000 Swiss francs ($6,500), the amount Daniel Vasella, the outgoing chairman, earned each hour during his 17 years at the company. Then, a man donning a...